U.S. seizes $2.3 million in bitcoin paid in the Colonial Pipeline ransom

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday said it recovered cryptocurrency worth about $2.3 million from the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Co.

“Today, we turned the tables on DarkSide,” said Lisa Monaco, Department of Justice deputy attorney general, as investigators had seized 63.7 Bitcoins adding that the government seized the money by court order.

The Justice Department has “found and recaptured the majority” of the ransom paid by Colonial, Monaco said.

Last month, a cybercriminal group known as DarkSide, penetrated the pipeline operator on the East Coast, hacked and locked out the systems, and demanded a ransom, which led to massive shortages at gas stations.

The hack caused a shutdown of about 5,500 miles of fuel pipeline that lasted several days and spiked the gas prices. 

Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount told WSJ in an interview that the company paid a $4.4 million ransom to DarkSide.

“So far, there is no evidence from our intelligence people that Russia is involved although there is evidence that the actor’s ransomware is in Russia, they have some responsibility to deal with this,” President Joe Biden said on May 10.

The Russian government has denied claims that it has launched the cyberattacks.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday the federal government is looking at all the possible options to defend against ransomware attacks, and the topic would be on the agenda when President Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16.

Picture Credit: Reuters